Blog Post Archive

Steve Bannon, in July:
Steve Bannon is "proud" that he created a platform for the alt-right. pic.twitter.com/6oqHY2hoHu
— Kevin Drum (@kdrum) November 22, 2016
Donald Trump today:
On Bannon:"If I thought he was a racist or alt-rightShow More Summary

During the 2016 election, the chant of "Lock her up" followed Donald Trump everywhere he went. And he reveled in it. He promised on national TV to do exactly that, and during the final days of the campaign—after James Comey released his calamitous letter—he practically spoke about nothing else. Show More Summary

Three years ago James Reston Jr. published The Accidental Victim, arguing that Lee Harvey Oswald was actually trying to kill Texas Gov. John Connally, and hit JFK only by accident. Some of the evidence comes from items collected after Oswald was arrested:
A Secret Service officer named Mike Howard was dispatched to Oswald’s apartment. Show More Summary

David Roberts reports today on changes at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. In particular, they've proposed a new rule that would allow small, distributed energy resources to compete in the wholesale electricity market:
There’s...Show More Summary

Today an Argentinian journalist reported on a phone call between the Big Apple and the Big Apple:
Earlier today it was reported that Trump spoke to Argentine Pres. Macri, & during call asked about approval for a TrumpTower in BuenosShow More Summary

Atrios has a question:
I'm a bit confused about the obsession with all of the soon to be out of work truck drivers due to automated technology. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a fan of industries being crushed too quickly....Still "whatShow More Summary

Let's start by griping about Trump's media coverage. As near as I can tell, Trump's process of choosing a cabinet is pretty ordinary. The president-elect always has a parade of candidates calling on him, and there's always an endless...Show More Summary

Over the weekend I wrote about the latest water testing results from Flint. In case you missed it, here's the chart:
This is basically a pretty good result, but it wasn't clear to me if these were lead levels in the raw water or lead levels coming into homes with filters attached. Show More Summary

Holy crap. Drug testers have been hauling out old urine samples from the 2008 and 2012 Olympic Games, and the results are devastating:
More than 75 athletes from those two Olympics have been found, upon further scrutiny, to be guilty of doping violations. Show More Summary

I've seen dozens of articles like this over the past week:
Democrats ask themselves: Now what? Who'll lead the party from the wilderness, and how?
Instead of expanding the political map against Trump into the Republican-leaning reaches...Show More Summary

Is news "aggregation" getting out of hand? On Twitter this morning, I happened to see a complaint that TPM has badly mischaracterized a Bernie Sanders speech in Boston this weekend, possibly in an aggregation form of the old telephone game. Show More Summary

The topic of the day is "fake news." This takes two forms. The first is something that's mocked up to look like a real news site and contains flat-out fabrications. The creators make money by trying to make their stuff go viral on Facebook and then collecting ad revenue. Show More Summary

Nick Kristof tells me something I didn't know:
The announcement that Trump has recruited Lt. Gen. Michael Flynn as national security adviser is particularly alarming....Flynn had a brilliant military career....Then President Obama nominated...Show More Summary

The New York Times tells us about Ivanka Trump's husband, Jared Kushner:
Whatever role Mr. Kushner may play in the administration, he has already had a hand in helping assemble it. Both of Mr. Trump’s most senior advisers, Mr. Priebus, his new chief of staff, and Stephen K. Show More Summary

Last week a federal judge in Michigan ordered that the state deliver four cases of bottled water each week to families in Flint that need it. On Thursday, the state asked the judge to stay his order, arguing that the court order would...Show More Summary

Here is the version of reality that Donald Trump and the Trump team have been spreading around since the election:
Trump's victory was one of the biggest in recent history.
Trump kept a Ford plant from moving to Mexico.
Snobby New York...Show More Summary

Guess who's getting a Presidential Medal of Freedom? Hopper! Well, Hopper's namesake anyway, Adm. Grace Hopper:
Rear Admiral Grace Hopper, known as “Amazing Grace” and “the first lady of software,” was at the forefront of computers and programming development from the 1940s through the 1980s. Show More Summary

Tyler Cowen says there have been a lot of papers about the declining labor force participation of men, so it's about time we investigate the declining labor force participation of women. He recommends a paper by So Kubota, a job market candidate at Princeton.
Unfortunately, I ran into a huge roadblock. Show More Summary

Last night Donald Trump tweeted this:
Just got a call from my friend Bill Ford, Chairman of Ford, who advised me that he will be keeping the Lincoln plant in Kentucky - no Mexico
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 18, 2016
There is a kernel of truth to this. Show More Summary

Sen. Jeff Sessions will be our next attorney general. Trump is continuing his streak of picking loyalists with, um, racial issues.
Who else jumped on the Trump train early? That seems to be the main qualification for serving in his administration. Sarah Palin? Joe Arpaio? David Clarke?